Oilfield Giant SLB's Stock Eyes 6-Week High On Upbeat Q4, $2.3B Buyback Plan: Retail Euphoria Follows

It also lifted its quarterly dividend by 3.6% and said it would raise its total shareholder returns to $4 billion in 2025.

SLB shares gained 2.5% before the opening bell on Friday, eyeing highs last seen in early December, after the oilfield services firm beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly profit and announced an accelerated share buyback program worth $2.3 billion.

The company reported adjusted earnings of $0.92 per share for the fourth quarter, compared with the market estimate of $0.90  per share, according to FinChat data.  

SLB, the world’s largest oilfield services provider, reported $9.28 billion in revenue for the quarter and beat expectations of $9.18 billion.

It also lifted its quarterly dividend by 3.6% to $0.285 per share and said it would raise its total shareholder returns to $4 billion in 2025.

“While upstream investment growth will remain subdued in the short term due to global oversupply, we anticipate the oil supply imbalance will gradually abate,” CEO Olivier Le Peuch said in a statement.

SLB’s international revenue rose by 3% to $7.48 billion, aided by robust activity in the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Kuwait, East Asia, China, and Indonesia. Reduced drilling in India partially offset the increase.

Its North America segment revenue rose 7%, driven by an uptick in offshore activity in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and higher Asset Performance Solutions revenue in Canada.

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits jumped to ‘extremely bullish’ (86/100) territory from ‘bullish’(60/100) a day ago, while message volume also soared.

One user expected the stock to move even higher.

“With the anticipated completion of our announced acquisition of ChampionX, we are set to further strengthen our production and recovery capabilities,” Le Peuch added.

SLB’s peers Halliburton (HAL) and Baker Hughes (BKR) are scheduled to report their results on Jan. 22 and Jan. 30, respectively.

Over the past year, the stock has lost 14.2%.

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